An electrical connector having a fitting portion to be fitted to a mating connector and a seal provided on the fitting portion is readily known. In the case where such a connector is used for an airbag system for an automobile, for example, the fitting portion and the seal of this connector are often protected with a seal protection cap in order to ensure safety and reliability until the connector is mated with the mating connector.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 08-64298 proposes a waterproof electrical connector including a seal that is provided inside a fitting concave section to be fitted to a fitting section of a mating connector while the seal is partially exposed on an outer periphery of the fitting concave section. In this connector, the exposed portion of the seal is covered with a protection cover that is put on the outer periphery of the fitting concave section.
Meanwhile, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-267004 proposes a cap-shaped dust cover to be fitted onto an outer periphery of a connector so as to cover a front face of a fitting portion of the connector. In this application, a seal protection section is formed in an extending manner on an opening end of a peripheral wall of the dust cover so as to cover a seal exposed on a rear-end outer periphery of the connector.
However, when putting the protection cover on the outer periphery of the fitting concave section as proposed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 08-64298, the portion of the seal that is exposed on the outer periphery of the fitting concave section is protected by the protection cover, whereas a front end side of the seal provided inside the fitting concave section is not protected by the protection cover. Therefore, an insufficient protection of the seal results.
Meanwhile, again, according to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-267004, the seal exposed on the rear-end outer periphery of the connector is covered with the seal protection section that extends on the opening end of the peripheral wall of the cap-shaped dust cover to be fitted to the outer periphery of the connector. In this application, the front face of the connector, in a fitting direction in which the connector is fitted to the mating connector, is covered with the dust cover. Thus, it is impossible to carry out a visual inspection of the connector or a continuity check of a contact after putting the dust cover on the connector. Therefore, this connector has a problem of poor workability in its manufacturing process.